Panel mounting apparatus

ABSTRACT

Apparatus for mounting panels, such as windowpanes and the like for either inner or outer glazing. One form of the apparatus may comprise a base rail having formed therein a relatively wide dovetail groove together with a second dovetail groove in approximately the center of the first such groove. An outer rail seats slidably on the base rail and has a projection which engages a portion of the inner dovetail groove and an additional projection which engages one element of the outer dovetail groove whereby the outer rail is secured thereto. A glazing rail is secured to the other portion of the first dovetail groove formed in the base rail and is likewise secured in a recess carried by the outer rail. A space is left between the glazing rail and outer rail in which panels, such as window glass and the like, may be inserted. The securing portions of the glazing rail and the outer rail are fashioned so that they may be reversed in their relationship to the base rail should conditions warrant.

[ Sept. 19, 1972 United States Patent Dulaney [57] ABSTRACT Apparatusfor mounting panels, such as windowpanes Thomas J. Dulaney, 4901- N.Cooper, Oklahoma City, Okla. 73118 and the like for either inner orouter glazing. One form of the apparatus may comprise a base rail having[22] Filed: July 2, 1970 fonned therein a relatively wide dovetailgroove together with a second dovetail groove in approxi- [21] Appl.No.: 52,011

mately the center of the first such groove. An outer ....52/397, 52/501,52/730 [51] Int.

[52] US. Cl. rail seats slidably on the base rail and has a projectionwhich engages a portion of the inner dovetail groove .E04b 1/62, E06b1/04 .52/730-732,

501-502, and an additional projection which engages one ele- [58] Fieldof 259 -4 ment of the outer dovetail groove whereby the outer rail issecured thereto. A glazing rail is secured to the other portion of thefirst dovetail groove formed in the [56] References Cited UNITED STATESPATENTS base rail and is likewise secured in a recess carried by theouter rail. A space is left between the glazing rail and outer rail inwhich panels, such as window glass 3,205,630 9/1965 Felix et al....................52/502 3,334,463 8/1967 .....52/731 3,352,078 11/1967.....52/731 Muesse1.......

and the like, may be inserted. The securing portions of Neal the glazingrail and the outer rail are fashioned so that they may be reversed intheir relationship to the base Primary Examiner-Frank L- Abbott railshould conditions warrant.

10 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures Assistant Examiner-James L. Ridgill, Jr.

Attorney-Dunlap, Laney, Hessin & Dougherty PANEL MOUNTING APPARATUSBACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention was designed toprovide apparatus which can be used to mount panels and especiallywindow glasses in circumstances which require outside glazing, as wellas in circumstances which require inside glazing.

In ordinary single-story or even two-story building structures, it haslong been the custom to seal or glaze windows and doors in the structurefrom the outside. In such conditions the glazing work was not often amajor problem when it became necessary to replace the window glass,since all that was necessary to reach the window for glazing was, atmost, stepladders, and in many cases glazing could be accomplished fromthe ground.

Circumstances are quite different, however, when high-rise buildings areconsidered. Here, if windows are glazed from the outside a substantialamount of equipment must be used in glazing replaced windows should thiskind of activity become necessary. Recognizing this problem and thedangers attendant to outside glazing in elevated windows, many buildingcodes now require that windows above the third floor or even above thesecond floor be glazed on the inside.

In view of these building restrictions, and further in view of the factthat it is still desirable to glaze on the outside when conditions andimposed restrictions allow, builders and warehousemen have found itnecessary to stock two different kinds of window mounts for alternateusage, depending upon whether the glazing will be on the inside or onthe outside. This redundancy'in inventories has the obvious disadvantageof increasing costs and also introduces the possibility of mistakes ininstallation of window framing. Moreover, the cost of extrusion dies formanufacturing the various rails is necessarily high, since the railsnecessary for inside glazing are of different geometry than those usedfor outside glazing. The advantages of window framing which could beused for both inside and outside glazing are, in view of thisexplanation, at once apparent, although until the present invention,totally satisfactory apparatus for achieving this desired result hadlong remained an elusive desideratum. It is therefore an object of thepresent invention to provide panel mounting means which may be used forboth inside and outside glazing.

Another object of the present invention is to provide panel mountingapparatus which is relatively simple to install and is of universalapplication.

Still a further object of the present invention is to provide panelmounting apparatus which can be extruded from molten aluminum and whichcan be produced relatively economically.

Yet a further object of the present invention is to provide apparatusfor mounting panes of glass in buildings which is easy to install,relatively rigid in construction, and pleasing to the eye. These andother objects of the present invention will be readily apparent from acareful examination of the following written specification which is tobe read in conjunction with the drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a schematic elevational viewof a window showing the relationship of the structures embodying thisinvention to the window panes.

DESCRIPTION OF AN EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION The present invention hasutility in many types of construction environments. One such type isshown in FIG. 1 wherein there is disclosed a double hung window ofgenerally standard design. The double hung window includes the usualfoot rail and head rail 1 1 which intercept a pair of parallel jambrails 12 to form a rectangular window frame. The central portions ofjamb rails 12 are connected by'a meetingrail 13 to divide therectangular frame into an upper and lower portion. Window panes 14 and15 aresecured within the upper and lower portions respectively by theapparatus disclosed hereinafter. a

An important characteristic of the present invention is the fact that,although the basic structure of the head rail, foot rail, jamb rail, andthe meeting rail may be different, the apparatus embodying thepresentinvention may be used with each type of rail without change inthe form of the apparatus. a

In FIG. 2, for instance, there is shown a portion of a meeting rail 13on which structure embodying the invention is mounted. In general, thisstructure includes a longitudinally extending outer rail 21 on which isseated a window pane 22. Lying opposite the rail 21 is an elongatedglazing rail 23 which likewise seats upon the meeting rail 13. Putty orglazing material 24 isused to seal between the outer rail 21 and thewindow pane 22 in the manner shown. An important feature of the presentinvention resides in the fact that outer rail 21 and glazing rail 23 maybe reversed with respect to base rail 11 so that glazing material 24 mayappear to the right as viewed in FIG. 2 rather than to the left. Thismay be done without disturbing the position of meeting rail 13. Anexample of this arrangement of elements is disclosed in FIG. 3 whichwill be discussed in more detail hereinafter.

As pointed out earlier, the supporting or base rail may take any one ofseveral different forms whether it be head, jamb, or meeting rail. Inany event, however, the base rail is characterized by a longitudinallyextending flat 31 on both edges of which there are provided parallellongitudinal dovetail projections 32 and 33. These dovetail projectionsare undercut in the standard manner to receive portions of the outerrail and glazing rail whereby these members are secured to base rail 10.In viewing the cross-sectional configuration of this portion of theapparatus as shown in FIG. 2, it will be appreciated that projections 32and 33 are oppositely faced and together define a relatively shallow,wide dovetail groove, the bottom of which is flat 31. The seconddovetail groove 34 is located in the center of flat 31 and extendsparallel to dovetail projections 32 and 33. Groove 34 functions toreceive a portion of outer rail 21 whereby rail 21 is secured to thesurface of base rail 10 by the cooperative action of dovetail projection33 and groove 34 in a manner to be hereinafter described. After theouter rail 21 is placed in the illustrated position, it is oftendesirable to peen the base flange thereof overlying the flat 31 so thatit is retained against longitudinal sliding movement on the base rail.

Outer rail 21 comprises an outer web 41 which extends the length of rail21. At the upper edge of web 41 thereis provided a lip 42 which.projects inwardly toward window pane 22 and engages the window pane toprovide bracing and stability thereto. At the lower edge of web 41, athickened base flange 43 extends in a direction parallel to lip 42. Baseflange 43 is divided into an upper and lower portion by a recess '44which opens outwardly in a direction toward glazing rail 23 and receivesa projection of the glazing rail. The upper portion of base flange 43serves as a base support for window 22 while from the bottom of thisflange there port rail, whereby glazing material 24 appears on the righthand portion of the figure rather than the left. Here it will be notedthat dovetail bead 45 which forms a portion of the outer rail cooperateswith dovetail projection 32 rather than with projection 33 as in FIG. 2.

projects a triangular dovetail bead 45. Bead 45 extends the length ofrail 21 and is located at the edge of the plane including the insideface of outer web 41. As shown in FIG. 2, bead 45 engages dovetailprojection 33 to aid in locking outer rail 21 to the surface of meetingrail 13.

Additional securing means are also carried by the under portion of baseflange 43. This additional securing means is in the form of alongitudinally extending toe 51 which projects outwardly and downwardlyfrom the outside edge of base flange 43, and which has an outer surfaceapproximately parallel to one of the downwardly facing surfaces ofdovetail groove 34.

Glazing rail 23 serves to provide stability to window pane 22. Theglazing rail includes an elongated locking flange 52 which projects intorecess 44 whereby this portion of the glazing rail is restricted againstmotion toward and away from the meeting rail 13. An inner web 53 isformed on the edge of locking flange 52 opposite recess 44. In the upperportion of web 53 (as viewed in FIG. 2), there is carried a deep groove54 into which projects a portion of a sealing bead 55. Bead 55 is formedof resilient material, such as rubber and the like, and functions toreinforce the seal between window 22 and glazing rail 23.-The upperportion of web 53 is held in rigid relationship to the meeting rail 13by means of a connecting assembly C which includes an elongatedrectangular-shaped connecting member 61 which projects in a horizontaldirection from the top edge of web 53 away from sealing bead 55. Avertical leg 62 extends in a direction normal to the plane of connectingmember 61 and parallels inner web 53 to form a member having a generallyU-shaped cross-sectional configuration. Along the edge of leg 62opposite connecting member 61, there is mounted a triangular-shaped,outwardly opening dovetail bead 63 which engages the under side ofdovetail projection 32. By the cooperating action of dovetail bead 63and locking flange 52 and their corresponding elements, meeting rail 13and outer rail 21, respectively, the glazing rail 23 is maintained in arigid position with respect to the other elements of the structure.

FIG. 3 shows the identical outer and glazing rails disclosed in FIG. 2in cooperative engagement with a jamb rail 12. The jamb rail 12 has anupper portion constructed identically to the upper portion of themeeting rail 13. In FIG. 3, however, the positions of the outer rail andglazing rail are reversed with respect to the glazing rail 12, whichhere constitutes the base or sup- Moreover, toe 51 carried by the outeredge of flange 43 projects downwardlyinto the opposite side of dovetailgroove 34 in FIG. 3. Aside from these differences, however, the mannerin which the two upper rails are secured to the base rail is identicalin both figures.

It will be obvious that a number of changes and alterations may be madein the structure shownin the drawings without departing from the spiritand scope of the present invention. Embodiments described herein arepresented by way of an example only and the invention is to be limitedonly by the appended claims.

What I claim is: l

l. A window mounting assembly which comprises:

a longitudinally extending base rail having a pair of parallel inwardlyfacing dovetail projections formed on the outer edges thereof whereby afirst dovetail groove is formed, said baserail further beingcharacterized by a second dovetail groove formed in the center thereofparallel to the first dovetail groove; longitudinally extending outerrail which comprises: an outer web;

a lip projecting from an edge of said outer web;

a base flange projecting from the opposite edge'of said outer web in aplane parallel to the plane of projection of the lip;

a first dovetail bead carried by the base flange ina position to engagea first one of said pair of dovetail projections;

a recess formed in said base flange, said recess opening in a directionaway from the web; and

a securing toe projecting from the outer edge of the flange in adirection away from the outer web into the second dovetail groove formedin the base rail; and

a glazing rail which comprises: an inner web having formed thereon alongan edge thereof a groove opening toward the outer rail;

a locking flange projecting from an edge of the inner web into therecess formed in the base flange;

a connecting assembly secured to the edge of the inner web opposite itsedge from which said locking flange projects; and a second dovetail beadcarried by said connecting assembly in engagement with the seconddovetail projection formed in the base rail. 2. The apparatus defined inclaim 1 wherein said connecting assembly comprises:

a leg parallel to the inner web and having said second dovetail head onone edge thereof; and a connecting member perpendicular to said leg andto said inner web and connected to an edge of each. 3. Panel mountingmeans comprising: an outer rail which comprises:

an outer web; a base flange connected to and projecting perpendicularlyfrom one edge of the outer web;

a dovetail head on said base flange at a position adjacent the outerweb, for securing said outer rail to a base;

a recess formed in said base flange, said recess opening in a directionaway from the outer web; and

securing means projecting from the outer edge of the flange in adirection away from said recess and angled to the planes of the outerweb and of the flange; and

a glazing rail which comprises:

an inner web;

a locking flange projecting from an edge of the inner web into therecess formed in the base flange;

a connecting assembly secured to the inner web;

and

a second dovetail bead carried by said connecting assembly in a positionparallel to the first dovetail bead for securing said panel mountingmeans to a base.

4. The apparatus defined in claim 3 wherein said connecting assemblycomprises:

a leg parallel to the inner web and having said second dovetail bead onone edge thereof; and a connecting member perpendicular to said leg andto said inner web and connected to an edge of outer web in a planeparallel to the plane of the base each.

5. The apparatus defined in claim 3 and further characterized by a lipprojecting from an edge of the outer web in a plane parallel tothe planeof the base flange.

6. The apparatus defined in claim 3 wherein the inner web has formedtherein a deep groove opening toward the outer web and furthercharacterized by a sealing bead secured in said deep groove andprojecting therefrom.

7. The apparatus defined in claim 6 wherein said sealing bead is formedof rubber.

8. The apparatus defined in claim 6 wherein the groove receiving'saidhead is a dovetail slot.

9. The apparatus defined in claim 8 and further characterized by a lipprojecting from an edge of the 10. The apparatus defined in claim 9wherein said connecting assembly comprises:

a leg parallel to the inner web and having said second dovetail head onone edge thereof; and a connecting member perpendicular to said leg andto said inner web and connected to an edge of each.

=l= t k

1. A window mounting assembly which comprises: a longitudinallyextending base rail having a pair of parallel inwardly facing dovetailprojections formed on the outer edges thereof whereby a first dovetailgroove is formed, said base rail further being characterized by a seconddovetail groove formed in the center thereof parallel to the firstdovetail groove; a longitudinally extending outer rail which comprises:an outer web; a lip projecting from an edge of said outer web; a baseflange projecting from the opposite edge of said outer web in a planeparallel to the plane of projection of the lip; a first dovetail beadcarried by the base flange in a position to engage a first one of saidpair of dovetail projections; a recess formed in said base flange, saidrecess opening in a direction away from the web; and a securing toeprojecting from the outer edge of the flange in a direction away fromthe outer web into the second dovetail groove formed in the base rail;and a glazing rail which comprises: an inner web having formed thereonalong an edge thereof a groove opening toward the outer rail; a lockingflange projecting from an edge of the inner web into the recess formedin the base flange; a connecting assembly secured to the edge of theinner web opposite its edge from which said locking flange projects; anda second dovetail bead carried by said connecting assembly in engagementwith the second dovetail projection formed in the base rail.
 2. Theapparatus defined in claim 1 wherein said connecting assembly comprises:a leg parallel to the inner web and having said second dovetail bead onone edge thereof; and a connecting member perpendicular to said leg andto said inner web and connected to an edge of each.
 3. Panel mountingmeans comprising: an outer rail which comprises: an outer web; a baseflange connected to and projecting perpendicularly from one edge of theouter web; a dovetail head on said base flange at a position adjacentthe outer web, for securing said outer rail to a base; a recess formedin said base flange, said recess opening in a direction away from theouter web; and securing means projecting from the outer edge of theflange in a direction away from said recess and angled to the planes ofthe outer web and of the flange; and a glazing rail which comprises: aninner web; a locking flange projecting from an edge of the inner webinto the recess formed in the base flange; a connecting assembly securedto the inner web; and a second dovetail bead carried by said connectingassembly in a position parallel to the first dovetail bead for securingsaid panel mounting means to a base.
 4. The apparatus defined in claim 3wherein said connecting assembly comprises: a leg parallel to the innerweb and having said second dovetail bead on one edge thereof; and aconnecting member perpendicular to said leg and to said inner web andconnected to an edge of each.
 5. The apparatus defined in claim 3 andfurther characterized by a lip projecting from an edge of the outer webin a plane parallel to the plane of the base flange.
 6. The apparatusdefined in claim 3 wherein the inner web has formed therein a deepgroove opening toward the outer web and further characterized by asealing bead secured in said deep groove and projecting therefrom. 7.The apparatus defined in claim 6 wherein said sealing bead is formed ofrubber.
 8. The apparatus defined in claim 6 wherein the groove receivingsaid bead is a dovetail slot.
 9. The apparatus defined in claim 8 andfurther characterized by a lip projecting from an edge of the outer webin a plane parallel to the plane of the base flange.
 10. The apparatusdefined in claim 9 wherein said connecting assembly comprises: a legparallel to the inner web and having said second dovetail bead on oneedge thereof; and a connecting member perpendicular to said leg and tosaid inner web and connected to an edge of each.